The fun and excitement associated with many video games is increased when audio and visual effects are similar to real-life sounds and images. This is especially true with action combat games involving shooting and other weapons. Sounds may be related to an environmental activity or an impact activity.
Environmental activity refers to activity surrounding the video game characters, such as flies buzzing, water running in a river, footsteps of a character running, a car engine running, etc. The sounds associated with environmental activities are typically not reactive, but rather are static in that they exist to enhance the presence of the object or person (“object” is used hereafter to refer to a physical object, person, or other living creature). Impact activity refers to “direct hits” on an object, such as a car blowing up from an explosive, a window shattering from a bullet, an alien or bad guy being shot, etc. The sounds associated with impact activities are typically due to the “direct hit.”
In real life, objects may also react to secondary effects of an environmental or impact activity. For example, if a bomb explodes, a nearby fence may rattle in response to the resulting shockwave. Thus, the overall video game experience could be enhanced if the effect associated with an environmental and/or impact activity includes an output asset (e.g., audio, visual, audio-visual effect) triggered by a force other than a direct hit, to create a more real-life sensation during video game play. In other words, the asset is output in response to a secondary effect of the activity, such as the shockwave of an explosion. This adds to the player's envelopment in the virtual play space.